The love to change a life
by beckyhay13
Summary: This is a mixed story about coming of age, love, and of course that too-well-known Pennywise of the 21st century. This is the story of Penny and Sofia…
1. Prologue

**_Prologue_**

Much of her short life has been quite happy, living in the small town of Derry, Maine. It's also been quite innocent, playful, and free of stress from adult things. 9-year-old Sofia would go to 4thgrade as happy as can be, making friends and learning whatever she could. One thing that stood out the most was her musical abilities; she plays piano, has been since kindergarten and has come far for her age in her skills.

Although at home, these relations aren't exactly the same. Sofia's parents are in and out of the house quite frequently, leaving her older brother Josiah, who is 13, to help with everything. When Sofia and Josiah's parents ARE home, it's a madhouse. Bickering back and forth between each parent, giving the bare minimum to their children.

Much of their home lives went like this, living off of school activities and friend support to live.

"…how many times am I gunna have tell you Dave?! You know I can't stand crowds, much less crowds of KIDS!"

"Babe, if you help out with this, it'll help Sofia and Josiah. Not every kid can get a chance to do this!"

"Think about them, not just yourself..." …


	2. Ch 1: The beginning of new ways

Today was starting out as a normal day for Sofia, getting ready for school as usual. The only thing was that she's been getting more spring in her step as she got more excited for the last day of school coming up in about 3 weeks. Seeing as she liked all the end-of-the-year activities at her elementary school, Sofia couldn't wait to go to school, but most importantly get done with her 4thgrade year and spend time with her brother Josiah, or as she liked to call him, Josie.

"Hey Josie, do you miss any of the things in elementary?" Sofia asks.

"You bet. I always looked forward to those days! I especially liked the outdoor activities like kickball against the teachers."

Sofia always liked to watch the annual kickball game, even though it was only for 5thgraders and the teachers.

Looking at the clock, Sofia realizes that she needs to get off to school. "Hurry up Josie, we're gunna be late for school!"

"I'll be down in a sec, need to finish packing my bag."

Since Derry's elementary and middle school are joined together, Josiah is easily able to walk Sofia to school every day.

 _At school…_

Today, Mrs. Smith had Sofia and her class read a book of their choice for a book report due that Friday, their last big assignment for the year. Sofia chose to read _The Tale of Despereaux,_ which she was already neck deep in. While reading, however, she noticed that the plot began to take an odd turn, but one that she liked; where Despereaux and the Princess's relations improved too early in the story. "Hmmm… there's too many pages left to have that going."

The words soon began to entangle her even more, making her want to be the Princess- in love. Even though Despereaux was a mouse. "What is wrong with me? I've never thought like this before!" This began to plague her inquisitive mind to no end with questions, "is this normal?", "how long will this last?"

Before no time Mrs. Smith told everyone to return their books to the shelf in class where they got them from, but Sofia got sneaky and greedy enough to put her book in her bag to take home after school.

Before Sofia got comfortable in bed, she got out her book again and decided to skim to the page she left off on, to see what would happen next.

"Hmm, strange. The wording changed enough to put it back how the timeline's supposed to be!"

Concerned with this, she calls Josiah to check it out. "Josie, can a book actually CHANGE itself?"

"No, where'd you get that idea?"

"I was reading this book earlier, and the storyline progressed earlier than it should have leaving too many pages left, and now it's changed back."

"Maybe your mind was playing tricks on you."

"Easy for you to say…" Sofia replies.

Putting this as a logical answer, Sofia puts the book down and heads to sleep.


	3. Ch 2: The awkward game

To Sofia's relief, her worry subsided as her book didn't change anymore and she was able to turn in her book report with no problem. Finally, the last three days of school!

These three days went by almost too quickly, as the different festival-like activities kept Sofia and each student busy. Before she knew it the last day of school came, which meant she could see the annual kickball game-the one thing she waited all year to watch.

At the game, Sofia asks a classmate, "Hey Paul, you excited for summer?",

"Heck yeah! I'm gunna go to Vermont to visit family for a month, which I'm really excited for. How about you? You excited?"

"You bet. We're gunna be staying here for the summer, but the free time is what I'm looking forward to the most." Sofia replies, in a partial lie to cover for her parental troubles.

"Cool." Paul replies.

Sofia and Paul continue to watch the game, until Sofia spots something else on the field with the team; a small red balloon near the ground that reflects the all too familiar Despereaux that is on the cover of the book she finished last week.

Sofia whispers, "…Paul…do you see that small balloon on the field?"

"What balloon? I don't see anything other than the kickball flying around."

Sofia stares in amazement as she discovers she's the only one that can see it. Why is it only me? She asks herself. She looks to another student in amazement, but when she looks back, it pops and releases the mouse to scurry away, as if it was a real mouse.

This makes Sofia remember what she read only a week ago, and made her awkward feelings come back again to haunt her. "What am I gunna do? I can't just ignore this!" She thinks to herself.

The game ends, the students winning, and Sofia's class goes back to their room to get their belongings before the final bell rings. Sofia continues to think of what the mouse and balloon combo means, and especially, what the balloon means. It reminds her of party balloons, and who gives them out at parties: clowns. "I wonder… nah, never mind. Dumb idea."

The possible meanings of the balloon-mouse crush thing float around in Sofia's mind for a while, continuing through the last bit of the day until school lets out. When Josiah is let out of school, he sends Sofia home by herself as there is a group of kids walking the direction of their house and that she can walk with them.

Sofia keeps up with them lost in her thoughts until she finds herself walking home, but with the children lost from sight. However, this doesn't stop her from her thoughts of earlier, so she continues walking home until she spots another of those balloons she saw earlier. This time she's able to take a closer look at the balloon and notice that it's a moving print of Despereaux on it, with the princess that was in the story.

"Whaa… how's this even possi-…" She trails off to find herself looking at Despereaux leap off of the balloon and onto the street, with the princess still on the red balloon. The mouse scurries off towards the direction of Sofia's house on Jackson street, but jumps off the curb and falls into a storm drain what seems like by accident.

"Aww, poor Despereaux… I'm sure that had to have hurt. Unless he meant to flee in that drain."

This only raised her curiosity and feelings even more, wanting to know who, or WHAT, could be doing this. Or if it was her mind getting the best of her. "This can't be just some weird mind trick. If I see it again, I'm gunna have to do something about it."

Just her luck, it didn't happen for the rest of the day. It was only a normal evening at her house, with her and Josiah playing a board game and concocting something to eat for supper from leftovers.

"This ain't half bad, Josie. What's in it?"

"Trust me, don't ask," Josiah responds, wanting to hide what all he had to do to the leftovers in order to get it to taste decent.

"Ok then, I guess…" Sofia smirks at Josiah's response.

The rest of the evening was uneventful for the two of them, but Sofia's mind still raced with so many things, 'what's doing this?' 'am I stressing over something?' 'am I changing?'

The summer that lies ahead will truly be her mental revelation, one to test her mentally and emotionally to the limits of her young age.


	4. Ch 3: A man with many names

Two weeks later, Sofia finds herself full of joy again- well, almost completely. The balloons have begun to disappear, but the mice turn up every so once in a while either running across the floorboards of her home or in her yard when she's outside playing with her brother. Much of this is a mental relief, which brings a skip in her step like before. Sofia might not be changing…

"Wanna go to the park with me and a few of my friends? You can play on the swing set while we play football," Josiah asks Sofia.

"Sure! When"

"You can go now if you'd like. I'll be going to Ritchie's house to get him, Bill, Ben and Mike so we can go."

Sofia thinks about this, not being by herself to walk alone very much recently. "…ok Josie. You think it'll be safe?"

"Why not? This isn't a very big place, so even if something DID happen, it would be resolved quickly."

"You got a point there," Sofia responds, giggling ever so slightly.

So Sofia left right then and there to the park, which was only 4 blocks from their house.

She began to skip while walking, as she was excited to be outside; this was the millionth time she's been outside this summer, but she didn't care one bit. She loved being outside.

Sofia was halfway there when she heard a rustling come from behind her, almost like from a bush. _But there was no bush there,_ she thought. She stopped and looked back only to find what she thought she put behind her: another red balloon. But this time it didn't have anything on it except for a small heart. The heart was moving like the last balloon she saw with Despereaux jumping off, but this time nothing jumped off. The heart was actually BOUNCING, like it was taunting someone. Then the all too familiar Despereaux jumped into the scene, trying to chase it, but as the heart bounced away, the little mouse stopped to look at Sofia.

 _Woah… it's like he knows I'm watching!_

Despereaux stayed there, motionless, on the balloon, which got Sofia to thinking that it meant someone was watching her.

Once this crossed her mind, she looked up to find herself face to face with- or rather face to chest- with a young man with an odd costume on, especially for it being summertime.

This man wore a clown costume, but it looked very outdated to Sofia, with an extreme lack of color that seemed unappealing, dark almost. It had ruffles around the waist and wrists, along the wrists were bells, three lonely red puffballs down the front, and pants that stopped to ruffles halfway down the shins. His facial features seemed very interesting to Sofia, as he had white paint like regular clowns, but it was all cracked on the forehead like he'd been wrinkling his forehead too much, and it began to dry out from wearing it too long. There were long red lines going down from his eyes down to his lips, which were the same color. He also had reddish orange hair in tufts around his head.

Although this seemed dark to Sofia, his demeanor was not as harsh as what she'd expected. His facial expression looked quite innocent, but he looked at her curiously, which Sofia found interesting, but she liked. She took a liking to this guy right away despite his appearance.

"Uhh… hi there. You need somethin?" Sofia asked.

"Uh, yeah actually. Are you Sofia?"

"Yeah… do I know you?"

"I don't think you've met me yet, at least not like this," the man said, "I am called by many names, but my most common nicknames are Robert, and Pennywise."

Sofia squints at this, which catches onto Robert, or Pennywise, or whatever he was called.

"I don't really have a solidified name; my parents were never around while I was growing up- actually quite similar to your parents…"

Sofia finds this a connection right away.

"Then how do you not know your name, Robert?"

"Good question. My parents never truly named me, as I was not born traditionally: in a hospital. I was born somewhere else, and my parents could never solidify a name."

 _God, how sad… worse than my parents! At least my parents were coherent enough to think of names for both me and Josie…_

"How sad…I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"Me either." Robert/Pennywise responded.

"What WOULD you like to be called?" Sofia asked.

"That really depends on you, I guess. Whatever you feel truly fits me, I will agree to." Robert/Pennywise answers, holding out his hand, to shake Sofia's.

Sofia sticks out her hand, noticing he has white gloves on, which Robert/Pennywise takes it, and wraps both hands around it.

 _His hands are so soft, even though they're in gloves!_

"…you admiring my hands there?" Robert/Pennywise asked, laughing slightly.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Sofia responds, with a smile on her face.

"I think I'll call you Penny. I like Pennywise, but Penny sounds better. Your hair also reminds me of the color of a penny."

Thinking about it, Penny responded, "Yeah, I guess I do," Giving Sofia a smile.

Sofia realizes that it's been quite a while since Josiah sent her off to the park, so she turns to Penny, "I have to go to the park, my brother's probably wondering where I am by now."

"Ooo, I've always loved the park! Can I come with?" Penny asks.

"Sure, why not?"

 _At the park_

"Sofia, where were you? I got worried about you. We got here 15 minutes ago."

"I'm sorry, Josie, I got distracted by something. Here, I also met him," looking up at Penny.

"Who are you?" Josiah asks, concerned about his little sister.

"Like I told your sister here, I have many names, but I mostly go by Robert, or Pennywise. My parents were like yours; not there for much of my life, quite frankly less than your parents. But on my journey through Maine I landed here in Derry and got acquainted with your parents, and met you two briefly when you were younger. That's how I recognized Sofia," looking down at her with kind eyes.

They give each other a smile before looking back at Josiah.

"Ok, makes sense. But why in this getup?" Josiah asks.

"I like this outfit, it fits me well, and I never took off my makeup from last night. I was performing for a party last night, and I sometimes get too tired to stay up longer to take my face off, so I just leave it." Penny responded.

Josiah thinks about this for a few moments, finally saying, "Hmm… ok," he turns to Sofia, "we'll stay for another hour, then going home. Be careful."

"Ok Josie."

Penny and Sofia spend the rest of that hour on the play set, mostly talking and getting to know each other while sitting on the swings.

Much of this time Sofia liked quite a bit, even though she and Penny have only known each other for about an hour and a half.

"Penny, where are you from?"

"That's something I'd rather not say, at least not yet," Penny responds.

"Why not?" Sofia asks, genuinely confused.

"You more than likely wouldn't understand the complexity of everything. Some things… some can't really be explained simply. Let's just say for now I am from another country. That's the best way to describe it."

 _Ahh, I'd LOVE to visit another country!_ Sofia thinks, her face brightening up.

"You want to visit a country at some point in your life, huh," Penny says, smiling shyly.

"How did you know?" Sofia asks in shock.

"I can read faces easier than others," Penny replies laughing quietly.

"You can do a lot of things, can't you." Sofia half asked, half stated.

"Yes, I can, sweetie," Penny says, going to hug Sofia.

Sofia went to hug Penny also, which she found out he was really comfy to hug.

 _What the- he's like a pillow…_

Sofia enjoyed every moment with Penny until they had to split ways after the hour.

"Will I be able to see you again?" Sofia asked Penny.

"You can count on it. Whenever you think of me, I will always be here for you," Penny responded, giving Sofia a wink.

They both parted ways for the rest of the evening, Sofia telling Josiah everything about her encounter with Penny into the night…


	5. Ch 4: Fun and games

A month passed by, and Sofia and Penny got together quite frequently, doing many things together, mostly going to the park and playing on the playset together. That's what she liked to do the most, even though she liked to go there a lot. The other activities were walking, Penny helping Sofia with riding a bike, smaller tasks you could do around the neighborhood.

Sofia wanted to try out what Penny told her about before: she actually tried to think of him, and see if he'd be there, like he said.

Didn't go down so well…

 _It's because it's forced… dang it I figured it wouldn't work this fast…_

Sofia sighed as she thought this, realizing that she probably jumped the gun a little bit.

She walks back inside the house, but as she opens the door she feels a cold breeze hit her shoulder, making her to turn around to see Penny there at the end of the walkway to the porch. He was still dressed in his strange clown suit, but it looked, different today. Not in design, but it looked… cleaner. The ruffles at the neck, wrists and legs looked fluffier, as if the suit was washed. The darker shade didn't seem to have gone away, but at least the ends looked clean.

"Hey there," smiling with the corner of his mouth, "looking for me?"

 _Whoaah- ?_

"So much confusion packed into a small human. Are you always like this?" Penny asks.

"Not usually. You just amaze me to death! And confuse me, too," Sofia says, ending with a giggle.

 ** _My, she's such an innocent thing! I wonder if I can tell her ANYTHING…_** Penny wonders.

Sofia runs up to him and gives him a hug, almost knocking him to the ground. Luckily there was a lamp post there so Penny could catch his fall. **_But MY she's strong! I wonder where she gets that from._**

"Whatcha feel up to doing today, Sofia?"

"Anything, if it's with you. You're…different. I don't know how to explain it."

Penny stops to think about this, **_I should probably tell her a few things. Ask first, but then tell ENOUGH. Just so she's not so lost… maybe after this fun little trip I have planned._**

"Ok. Why don't we go up to the carnival in town, how about that?" Penny asks.

"Yay! Sounds like fun! I've always loved the carnival, but I've never been able to go with anyone other than my brother, so this'll be an adventure, I just know it!" Sofia exclaims.

"It will for me, too! I've never been, even though I've been here for so long. I've been too afraid of how everyone will perceive me, as either really frightening or funny to look at. But with you there, I feel that everyone will see that I'm not so bad," Penny says, winking at her.

 _God, life must be really tough for Penny. At least there's that connection; we can help each other possibly with this outing…_

 ** _At the carnival…_**

Sofia and Penny entered the carnival, as happy as can be. They both smelled the popcorn and other goodies from a block away, which made them hungry in the process… and made their stomachs rumble.

 ** _This isn't going to be good. Sure, I'll eat human food, but that's just the beginning of what I'll end up eating…_**

"You getting hungry, Sofia? I sure am," Penny asked, half asking out of wonder and out of caution that he wouldn't do anything bad.

"Heck yeah! That popcorn smells amazing! And the hamburgers," Sofia said with a watering mouth. Popcorn and hamburgers were her all-time favorite, just not together all the time. She loved both, she just didn't eat them together all the time.

"We can easily get both of those if you'd like," he replied, smiling down at Sofia. He didn't want to displease her one bit, since she's really the only friend he's ever had.

"Yay! But first, RIDES. Can't go on rides before you eat, or else you'll get sick! Don't want that now, do we?"

"I guess not, huh," Penny replied with a half-chuckle, knowing that he was probably one of the few that could keep down anything without hesitation. But he wouldn't say anything just yet.

"If you say so Miss Sofia," Penny said, looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on his face. Sofia laughed at this as she knew it was not to be taken too seriously. Which she liked about him.

They both went about buying the ride tickets and looking at what rides to get on, Sofia looking dazzled at the newer rides that weren't here last year. Much of what she saw was new and intriguing, which made it even harder for her to decide which one to get on. After about 5 minutes of looking, Penny decided to choose for her, since he could see and feel the bedazzlement coming off of her and on her face.

"Let's go on this one, Sofia. It looks interesting, and honestly quite fitting," Penny exclaims.

They walk up to a ride that has several cars linked together, which went into a mobile building which assumingly was like a small haunted house. The outside walls had clowns on them in varying costumes on a green-black background. The undertone of this design seemed slightly scary, though, as the clowns' expressions didn't look so happy and their depicted actions seemed darker than normal. There was one in particular that caught Sofia's attention; it actually looked similar to Penny with red hair and white facial makeup, but with blue lines going down from his eyes, and not connecting to his lips. This clown also happened to look more like a girl in Sofia's opinion, as it had blue lips, which it pulled off well if it was a girl (so as she suspected it was a girl if it was alive). Its costume was not exactly old, either; it was a jump suit that was super baggy in the pants, yet not in the upper portion, allowing it to show an upper figure similar to a woman. The suit was yellow, with black and blue lines in it, along with the three fluffy balls on the chest, similar to Penny's. What struck her though, was that it had red spots scattered along the suit, and on its hands.

Taking all this in, Sofia took a deep breath, and asked Penny, "That clown over there on the wall, with the yellow suit…why does it seem to remind me so much of you, but in a different way? Like if it's you but in a different style?" She was so afraid to ask him this because she was afraid of offending him, especially calling to attention that he looks a lot like a clown with blood all over it. _Not good…_

It took Penny a second to think about his response to that question. He didn't know what to tell her, or how to tell it to her, especially if he delayed the truth. So, he decided to tell her a half-truth this time, and figure out a way to tell her later on. Smoothly.

"Well, it's more than likely the facial design. See, even though it looks like it was designed to be a lady, the face paint color scheme and design looks similar to mine, which more than likely made it look like me. As for the outfit, don't know what to tell you there. Maybe the undertone it gives you is similar to mine, but… skewed."

"What does 'undertone' and 'skew' mean, Penny?" Sofia asks. She's heard these words only a few times, but never figured out what they meant.

"An undertone is basically the meaning or feeling underneath what is there on the surface, and skew is when something is crooked or not right," Penny answered. Sofia stared back at the clown on the wall, thoughtfully, then started going towards the line to get into the ride.

 _Very interesting. But also, slightly concerning. Then I wonder what Penny is keeping hidden._

"Penny, are you coming?" Sofia asks, brushing off the mental question. She figured she'd return to it later on.

Penny was thinking of all that Sofia could have been thinking when Sofia called him over, snapping him out of a trance. "Yeah, I am!" **_God, how will she be able to take all this info? Don't know if I should just tell her now or down the road a bit._**

So, they both went up to the entrance to the ride, handed over the amount of tickets they needed, and got in and went through. Throughout the ride, Sofia kept what happened before they got on in the back of her mind, and even noticed that same clown within the ride. Only twice, but it was there. Both times she saw it, it was in a different setting, like in a forest surrounded by several young kids with torn up shirts, and in a dark hallway that looked to have curved walls… almost like if it was a tunnel of some sort.

The rest of the ride was quite thrilling, scared her to pieces in some parts, but interested her to no end in general. Sofia loved all the artwork throughout the ride, which gave her inspiration to draw some more at home.

Penny and Sofia both got off at the end, her heart still racing, his heart content at seeing Sofia happy, and headed for the food vendors. On the way, Penny just had to strike a conversation. He still felt slightly uneasy about what happened earlier.

"How did you like it, Sofia? Not too freaky?" Penny asked, laughing slightly underneath his breath trying to conceal his worry.

"Man, it was amazing! The designs in there were so cool, I might just use some of it as inspiration for drawings at home. Other than that, it was really thrilling!" Sofia exclaimed. She also tried to hide what she thought back in the ride when she saw that same clown.

"Well that's good. Glad it didn't traumatize you, like it could have to others," he replied, smiling down at Sofia. "Shall we get something to eat now?"

"Yes! I'm STARVING!" As Sofia said that, she could feel her stomach growling like if she hadn't eaten in days…which has happened to a lesser extent on occasion. Because of her mother not being at the house so much, she sometimes doesn't get the groceries, or doesn't get enough for the week, or just plain and simply waits too long to get them, making it slightly harder for her and her brother to eat. Throughout the years they have been able to make do with what they had, and especially with getting things that are healthy for them. They'll constantly visit friends' houses to get access to healthier stuff, while staying at home when they have enough to suffice.

"Oof, I can hear that belly from up here. You that hungry?" Penny asks, genuinely concerned. "Yeah, I am. Much of my diet consists of not eating as much as I should because my mother doesn't get to the store as consistently as she should, while also not getting as much as she should, which makes me and Josie need to portion out everything right, and making trips to friends' houses for some of the healthier foods they can spare if we need it," Sofia says, feeling slightly embarrassed. She knew that Penny wouldn't judge, but it still felt embarrassing having to admit it.

"Gosh, I didn't know it was that harsh at home… you don't let onto that very easily. That sounds very hard to manage, especially for two kids…" Penny trails off, thinking about how much she's had to go through as a young kid so far. "Well, let's get you something before it gets later. Shall we?" He asks, sticking his hand out so she can grab hold of it.

They both go to the food area and get something to eat with the little money they both were able to scrounge up from random places they knew of, ate, and began heading home. Penny and Sofia got to the corner of her street where penny had to let her go off, so he could get back to what he had been doing before he came to get her.

"I have to leave you here. I have to… take care of some stuff that I was doing earlier, before I came over. Is that ok with you?"

"Sure, that's ok. My house is just right there, so I should be fine. When will you be back?" Sofia asks. "As soon as I can, I promise you that. And there will be more to come, more happy things. I'm sure of it." Penny responds, smiling joyfully down at her. They both hug before Sofia turns around to walk to her house.

Penny begins watching her go down the street, before he fades into the breeze, as if becoming ashes to be carried forever. Just after, Sofia hears something small coming from behind her, which she turns around, and sees none other than the small mouse again from the end of the school year. It scurries towards her and stops at her feet. Sofia bends down to take a closer look, and to her surprise, it comes up to her shoe and pats it, as if to say hello, and be safe. It soon scurries off to the side of the sidewalk, heading to some bushes.

Sofia watches it, smiles, and turns around to head home, telling Josie all about the day's adventures. With the exception of that clown…


	6. Ch 5: What was that!

It's been about a month and a half since Sofia and Penny went to the carnival. She's since started wondering where he was about a week after that. She's thought about him a lot, since seeing that clown in and on the ride, but he hasn't come by which is weird of him. She started getting worried, because she was about to start school in about a month's time, and Josie wasn't around the house nearly as much as he usually is. Probably too busy with his friends at the arcade across town. And her parents, well, they're almost never here except when they have to which is right when they wake up to make breakfast and right at dinner so they can make supper. And to sleep. Sometimes they don't even sleep here, they go to their friends' houses, like Mom to Janine's. Dad's the only one that really stays here at night the majority of the time.

Sofia decides to head outdoors, down the street to the field where the carnival was just a few weeks ago.

She locks the front door from the inside (since she doesn't have her own key), heads out the back door and starts walking down the street in the direction of the field.

 _I wonder where Penny is… I hope he's alright. I haven't seen that little mouse around, either, which I don't think is a good sign,_ she thinks to herself. _And it's such a great day out, too. I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss that._

Sofia reaches the field, only to find several boys a little bit older than her playing flag football and others playing catch with a baseball, enjoying the weather. This is the first sunny day in a week, which the kids are taking full advantage of. There's hardly been any sunny days in July, as it's been raining the majority of the time.

Looking out on the field, it's quite spectacular in its own way mainly due to the mixture of green grass cut short so as to not trip and fall easily and it being surrounded by tall Evergreen and Maple trees, almost looking like a golf course but without the different greens, bunkers and flags signaling where the holes are. There are also quite a few birds out flying in the sky, some look like they're families teaching their young how to fly. Joining them are a few butterflies also, seeming to play with each other which Sofia particularly notices, bringing a smile to her face.

Looking at all this, Sofia decides to take a stroll into the trees to her right and see what else she can spot. Taking a few steps in, she could already spot the grass getting slightly spotty in areas, showing small patches of dirt every so once in a while. _Hmm… maybe this is because the rain doesn't reach these areas as much? Then again, the trees are far enough apart…_

Sofia keeps going inwards for a few paces, then decides to go parallel with the edge of the grass and the trees from where she's at. She notices the same type of patchy dirt pattern, but then something strange begins to happen with them: they begin to make a pathway, as if leading her to somewhere. The dirt patches lead away from the edge of the field deeper into the canopy of trees reminding Sofia of the yellow brick road leading Dorothy through the dark forest that the Cowardly Lion lives in in _The Wizard of Oz_.

The path of dirt begins to make twists and turns, becoming almost lifelike as if it was a real person. Soon afterwards she sees little figures, almost like gnomes, with multicolored clothes on dancing around as she starts lightly jogging and dancing around with them. She ends up slowly picking up her pace, soon speeding around in circles on her way down the path and the gnomes end up looking like they're turning from nice and jumpy to fiercer and getting ready to pounce. _Oh no, I can't seem to stop, why can't I stop? It's like these things are controlling my body!_ Once Sofia notices this, she begins to panic inside but finds it hard to slow down until she hears a voice lowly calling out,

"Sofia… Sofia where are you..."

To this she focuses on that voice and easily comes to a stop, almost as if nothing was there at all and nothing was keeping her from stopping. She then looks around her and notices she's farther in the woods than where she was last, not recognizing anything around her or which way is out.

 _Where am I now? Oh man, when Josie finds me not at home, he's not gunna be happy about it… What will he do, what will he say…?_

"Sofia? Hey where are you?!"

Sofia hears that voice again, yet closer this time and turns in the direction it's coming from and soon recognizes it right away.

"Penny! Oh, how I've missed you!" Sofia says jumping into his arms, as Penny simultaneously says,

"Oh my, thank goodness you're ok."

There is a moment of silence as they both enjoy each other's presence. Penny soon asks,

"How did you get way out here anyway? This is a bit far from your house if I remember correctly"

"Honestly I don't know. One moment I was following a dirt path at the edge of the park, and then I'm here. What time is it anyway?" Sofia asks. _Should I dare to tell him about those things dancing around?_

"I'm not quite sure, but I'd better get you back towards home. It's beginning to get late already, and I have a feeling your brother's going to get worried if you don't get back soon." **_Oh man, I can already sense he's getting close to the house. I wonder how I can get her there without him suspecting too much…_**

"Ok that sounds good. How are we gunna get back quick though? We don't have much in terms of things going fast."

"Oh, you'd be surprised at how fast I can run, missy," Penny replies, as he winks at her.

"Hop on my back and you'll find out." He lets her down from her arms, then squats down in front of her so she can get on his back.

She climbs on his back, and they begin their way back towards Sofie's house, at quite an amazing speed.

"Wow, you really _can_ go fast! How can you do that?"

"Let's just say I have some magic up my sleeve. Now let's enjoy this evening while we can before we get back."

It's not too long before Penny stops at the front door of Sofia's house, and they both notice that Josie is beginning his walk back to the house also, a ways away still but with a group of friends.

"Will I see you soon, Penny?" Sofie asks.

"You definitely will this time, I guarantee it. I'll see you tomorrow, you just have to look for me slightly harder than usual," Penny says, as he smiles down at her, kneels and gives her a hug.

Once they let go, Sofia rushes to the back of the house as she remembered she locked the front door. She looks back once more and sees Penny's gone, but the mouse is there again, and knows it'll be alright. She goes inside and rushes to unlock the door and turns on a few lights before Josie starts banging on the door. He can definitely be a pain sometimes.

 ** _A/N Sorry guys for the late post! School's been kickin my butt lately not gunna lie. I hope y'all like this! Leave a comment if you'd like! :D_**


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